The present invention relates to the filtration of fuel, in particular fuel (generally known as gasoil) for diesel engines.
In this sector the sophistication of injection equipment requires the most careful filtration to prevent the impurities present in the fuel from causing damage to and malfunction of the delicate injection equipment.
A technical problem which has not been totally solved is caused by the presence of water parts in the fuel, which are not removed by the usual filter cartridges (designed to intercept more solid parts) and hence reach the downstream mechanical members, resulting in oxidation problems and breakage thereof.
To solve this problem, and upstream of the cartridge, there is inserted an inclined surface, generally having a frusto-conical shape, along which the entering fuel flow runs before reaching the filter cartridge.
Because the water has a greater specific gravity than the fuel, it tends to move more towards the inclined surface, where its travel is decelerated, with the result that the water particles tend to units to form relatively large water droplets, which then fall to the base of the filter, where they collect without passing through the filter cartridge.
This solution is not however totally satisfactory, in that generally at least a fraction of the water is not separated and reaches the outlet to cause the described problems.